If you had to list off 5 important tips to aspiring writers, what would they be? :)
oh gosh. I’m not sure I have any kind of authority to do this, friend, since I am very much still learning the craft myself :o but I will give it my BEST SHOT
there’s a piece of advice by Chuck Palahniuk floating around tumblr, which I found really interesting. here it is. with the greatest respect, I don’t always like Palahniuk’s writings, but this tip is a real keeper.
let your characters be flawed, let them be stupid, let them misunderstand. a character who understands everything is just you, the narrator, and not themselves. maybe think about how their specific character traits might blind them to certain things. let them try to manipulate a situation they think they understand, when they don’t.
on the flip side, let your characters be clever. let their pasts inform their perception and their choices. for example, because of how he was brought up, Dean might be sharper and quicker to notice a child living in a difficult situation. or Cas might show more wisdom and empathy to a person who had to choose between two things they loved.
hmmmm. the rules of grammar are not by any means there to be always followed (they’re more like guidelines, anyway) but it’s easiest to know how to break them to best effect if you know what they are. like how you can only swim to the dangerous cool swirly bit of the river if you’re definitely in the river and not just making swimming motions on the riverbank.
write small to start off with! build up your confidence and your certainty in your own ability to finish the goals you set out to attain. if you try to write a 100k story straight off, you’re gonna have a bad time. and writing will become associated with guilt and frustration in your mind, rather than enjoyment. BLECH. so start with small things! and WRITE for heaven’s sake! stop planning and W R I T E. :D
